We have arrived!!!

How bittersweet is this? My last blog entry :( After staying up until the wee hours of the German morning, I woke up at the bright and cheery 4 AM to reluctantly leave my second home.  After a night filled with lasts and goodbyes to my friends at the farewell BBQ, the stomach ache I felt when I woke up reminded me that I have so much to be thankful for and so many happy memories.  I got dressed, threw the last of my clothes into my suitcase, and had my traditional Bavarian breakfast the way I have these last few weeks; I sat in my spot at the table with Bianca at my right and we had a piece of toast and a cappuccino.  We sat there and I thought about all of the things I would miss.  For example, German radio “BAYERN DREI” and “ANTENNE BAYERN”.  I can still hear the station jingles in my head.  Consciously holding back tears, I said goodbye to my German home and cat named Rosie.  Tom, Petra, Bianca, and I climbed into the car still half asleep and we drove to the airport.  I looked out over the landscape one last time and watched Anzing, my ‘hometown’, shrink into the distance.  A few tears slipped out, but the waterworks turned on at the airport. 

We met at the Munich airport at 5:15 with the exceptions of Chris, Aaron, and Renee who extended their stays and said goodbye to our families for 20 minutes.  I hugged my family with tears pooling in our eyes.  Once we were in the terminal and checking into our flight, the ticket lady probably thought I was crazy because my face and eyes were bright red.  On our first flight to Frankfurt, I watched Munich slip into the distance and realized that I was actually going home.  I don’t know what I will do when I get home…I will be able to understand what everyone is saying around me; I’ve become accustomed to German 24/7. 

Right now I’m on our big flight to Seattle and Katie is passed out next to me.  While I am extremely sad to leave, I know that I’m sad because I had a great time.  This trip has been amazing, liberating, relaxing, fun, lässig, wünderbar, fabelhaft, and so much more! Thank you to everyone that made it possible, especially my Dad (see you soon and I love you to the moon and back x+1 times and more!).  I know I will take the traveling skills Mr. Mobini taught me and use them when I return to Germany.  Thank you to all of the Germans for having us, you were all so fun and it was more than great to meet you and hopefully we will meet again. 

For the last time, this is Jessika Lackie signing out….you stay classy Munich.